The report, presented Tuesday to a city audit committee, provided few details about the allegation.

It was listed as a pending investigation and a high priority for the auditor.

"That would be one that we would want to look at sooner (than others)," City Auditor Jorge Oseguera told KCRA 3.

Oseguera said the bribe and kickback allegation was one of 19 complaints received by his office since the city established a whistle-blower's hotline program earlier this year.

Ten of the complaint investigations have been closed, Oseguera said, because the allegations were found to be unsubstantiated or were referred to another department, or because the problem had been corrected.

For example, the city's Information Technology department was considering entering into a contract that would have created a potential conflict of interest, according to Oseguera's report.

To resolve the conflict, the contract was put out to bid.

In another example cited as a closed case, the auditor found that 16 percent of city managers had not received required sexual harassment prevention training.

Another pending, high-priority investigation listed in Oseguera's report was listed under the category of theft.

Oseguera declined to discuss the allegations pending the outcome of his investigations.

However, Oseguera did tell KCRA 3 that the bribe and kickback allegation was unrelated to a similar scandal uncovered a few years ago in the city's building permit department.

The city established its whistle-blower line in March as a way for city employees and members of the public to report potential waste, fraud and abuse.

Since 2009, state law has allowed cities to establish such hotlines.

According to the auditor's report, hotlines also exist in Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco.

During the committee meeting, council member Angelique Ashby expressed disappointment that the whistle-blower hotline has so far generated only 19 complaints.

Oseguera's staff said other cities with similar hotlines reported 50-80 complaints per year.

"It just doesn't seem like a raging success after a year, and I want to be sure that we fix it and make it right," said Ashby.

Oseguera said he is in the process of selecting an outside company to operate the line 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

He said some people wishing to file a complaint after hours may not feel comfortable with the current system, which requires them to leave a voice message.

He said hiring an outside operator would cost $10,000-$15,000 per year.

He said he felt the cost was justified, despite the current rate of just over two tips per month and the fact that his office has not been able to point to a single dollar the hotline has saved.

"You don't know if tomorrow or next month or next year you're going to get that one claim that is going to yield significant savings," said Oseguera.